No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
by E Asher
Summary: A Wicked fic, kinda crosses between the book and play. I know it looks long, but the chapters are short. DONE!
1. Come With Me

"Come with me," she whispered. Glinda looked into her friend's dark eyes. They were truly beautiful eyes. Her best feature. "Together we're unlimited." At this, she reached out her green hand to Glinda, who was deep in thought. Escaping here would mean giving up everything she had ever wanted. So why did it seem so right?  
"By order of the Wizard, open up!" Came a man's voice thundering from the other side of the door. Glinda looked up at her companion, frightened. But her best friend showed no signs of fear.  
"Alright, Elphaba. Together, we're unlimited. Let's defy gravity." 


	2. The Search

"AHA -" The triumphant guard flew into the cold, dusty room. The cold, dusty, empty room. "Where did those girls go?" he wondered. He thought he could expect something wicked from the green girl. After all, she was green. But the blond seemed so sweet and obedient.. "Well, men, back down the Wizard!"  
Once down the rickety stairs and back to the Great Hall, the guards bowed down to the Wizard.  
"Well?" he asked. "Where are they?" Pause. "Don't tell me they got away." Blank stares. "WELL, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? GO LOOK FOR THEM!"  
Fearing the wrath of the Great and Powerful Oz, the guards scrambled to their feet and hit the ground running. When they had run out of the palace, however, they realized they had no idea where to look. Emerald City was a big place.  
"Alright, men," the head guard called out, "gather 'round. We'll talk to every citizen of the city. Every Ozian, in fact! Tell 'em there's a Witch on the run and they must look out for their own welfare!"  
"But. we don't know if either of those girls are witches.. We don't even know if they're really dangerous." The other guards mumbled agreement with the brave one who stood up to the leader.  
"Well, do you have a better idea?" There was no reply. "That's what I thought." With that he gave orders for the different sections of Oz, and each of the men were off, headed cross country, while the leader headed back to the Wizard. 


	3. Safety Gone

Safety. Safety was gone. Gone like all possibilities of dreams coming true. They say happy is what happens when all your dreams come true. "But," Glinda thought, "I am happy." She gazed over at Elphaba, who was hard at work, making a plan to bring down the Wizard's regime. She smiled warmly at her good friend. Elphaba was the brains of the duo. Glinda carried out most of their plots that dealt with people, since people tended to be kinder to her beauty than to Elphaba's verdigris.  
Elphaba noticed she was being watched. "What?" she asked but Glinda just shook her head. "What?" This time there was a hint of exasperation in her voice.  
"Nothing," replied Glinda. "Just thinking.." With this, she turned and walked out of the room.  
"Strange girl, that blond," Elphaba murmured absent-mindedly.  
"I heard that!" Called out Glinda's voice shrilly. But she didn't really seem upset, and Elphaba giggled to herself. After stifling her laughter, she went right back to work. She must finish this stratagem, and make an alternate plan in the event that it doesn't work. 


	4. It's Glinda Now

Awkward. That's the only way Glinda could describe her meeting with Fiyero. She had been out checking upcoming events posted on the City Hall building for Elphaba, when she saw a handsome man go into the nearby chapel.  
"I haven't been out on a date in years," she thought to herself. Glinda then found herself following him into the chapel. Just as she was about to approach him and lay down her charm and let him gaze upon her beauty, she realized she knew him. This dark-skinned man was Fiyero, an old college friend. Knowing that Elphie didn't want anyone of their past to know what happened to them, Glinda turned on her heels and left the chapel.  
  
She had just turned the corner when she heard shouting. "Galinda! Galinda!" But she ignored the shouting, and hurried down the street, thinking to herself, "It's Glinda now, buddy." 


	5. Fiyero

Fiyero rushed down the street after the blonde beauty. He knew it was Galinda. Or, wait, after what happened to Dr. Dillamond, she changed it to Glinda. Well, it didn't matter if she changed it to Kathy, this girl he had just followed out of the chapel, was the same girl he knew at Shiz.  
"Glinda! Glinda, please stop!" Fiyero looked like a madman, running down the street, shouting at some girl that didn't seem to know him. So he stopped. He stopped running and shouting, trying to look like he didn't just make a fool out of himself. Straightening his starched collar, Fiyero ducked into the nearest alleyway. Despite the filthiness and obscenity of the city streets, he took off his shoes and socks. Feeling the cool ground under his feet, he thought back to the days of his youth in the grasslands. Following his tribal instincts, he emerged back into the streets to stalk his prey. 


	6. Meeting

Fiyero finally had Glinda cornered in the dark hallway of a rickety old apartment building. "What happened, Glinda?" He demanded, but pretty little Glinda just stood there, dumbfounded. He gently shook her, grasping her shoulders. "Please understand, Glinda, I just want to know what happened when you and Elphaba disappeared. We were all so worried about you two. We thought Elphie was just going to meet the wizard, and the next thing we know, you two don't exist anymore." Fiyero's thoughtful dark eyes searched Glinda's worried blue ones. When he could find no answer in them, he dropped his hands to his sides. Glinda thought he looked so dejected, she had to tell him on everything. But when she opened her mouth, all that came out was babble. "Well, we. see, Elphie. and, um. 'Cuz I." she sighed, frustrated. "I've never been good with words. Come with me." With this, she grabbed Fiyero's large hand, and led him up frighteningly unsafe stairs. When she reached the top, she turned to the second door on the left. It didn't have a number, and the paint was peeling. "Boy," Fiyero thought, "These girls sure have shitty living conditions. How could they give up all that they did for this?" Before he got to deeply into his thoughts, Glinda rapped sharply on the door. There was no answer, and she knocked again, with what seemed to be a definitive pattern. The door swung open, but there was no one there. "Elphie is paranoid about being recognized, especially because of her. ya know. skin," Glinda whispered to Fiyero, nudging him inside. "Elphaba!" She called out. "We have a visitor." When she heard this, Elphaba sprang out, shouting, "Glinda, what have you done? You can't bring visitors up here! What were you thinking! You - " But she stopped short when she saw who it was. "Fiyero. Oh my! Is there anyone else? Boq, maybe?" She looked around, but Fiyero shook his head, slightly confused and disoriented. "Oh it doesn't matter. It's so good to see someone from our days at Shiz!" She flung her arms around Fiyero. "It's great to see you girls, too," he replied. They both smiled. They hadn't had much contact with a man in so long. The three friends sat down for tea, and talked for hours. Glinda was so happy to see Elphaba's unexpected response to Fiyero. She had dropped all of her insecurities at someone from her past knowing she was still alive. The girls learned all about the outside world, beyond Emerald City, all about Boq's marriage to Nessarose, and his new job as a woodcutter, and about his two silly friends now traveling with the Ozian Circus. After telling the girls everything he knew, Fiyero asked about what they'd been up to. Glinda looked nervously at Elphaba, who had gotten very quiet and serious. "Well, we've been planning -" Glinda began. "What we've been up to is of no concern to you, Fiyero," interrupted Elphaba coldly. "It seems to me," he reasoned, "that I just told you everything you wanted to know without hesitation. I asked only one simple question. I don't need details; I just want to know where you went when you disappeared, and why. Don't tell me the two of you have simply been living in this shit hole for the past few years, doing nothing. That you just needed to get away for the stress of college work." Glinda looked from him to Elphaba, who was staring hard at him. She got up, abruptly. "Well, Fiyero," she chirped, "this has been a great reunion, we should do this again sometime, but right now, Elphie has something important to do. Most pressing business, I'm sure as a prince you can understand. Allow me to walk you back to your place." Her cheerful façade stared down on him until he reluctantly, and with a single glance back at the sulking green figure, Glinda led Fiyero outside. 


	7. Serving Oz

**Author's Note: Sorry this took so long, guys! I had writer's block like WOAH. I hope you think it was worth the wait.**  
  
"I assume you know why you're here," boomed the voice from behind the face that was big and stony like some sort of horrible statue looming in the back of the great empty hall.  
  
Fiyero nodded passively. He really didn't have a clue, but he felt apathetic to what was going on around him. It was as thought his senses had been cut away; his body numbly and obediently stood and listened to the omnipotent voice of the Wizard, while his heart and mind were far away. For they were across the city, in a smelly room of a crumbling apartment building with her.  
  
"Yes, sir," Fiyero answered; though he didn't know the question. He thought to himself, 'What's wrong with you? Pay attention! This is the Great and Powerful Oz!' He slightly shook his head, as though just waking up, and stood straighter, like a soldier reporting to his commanding officer.  
  
"You seem like the kind of man to make an entire country proud," spoke out the gentle voice of an old man. Fiyero looked around to see where the voice was coming from. Then he saw a small squirrelly man, probably 50- years-old, emerge from behind the giant face, like a meek child meeting someone whom would change his or her lives.  
  
"Who are you?" Fiyero asked, bewildered.  
  
The man chuckled. "I," he said, "am the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and if you follow my lead, do as I humbly ask, then I swear, someday there'll be a celebration throughout Oz that's all to do with you."  
  
Fiyero was speechless. This was the Wizard? The Great and Powerful, Wonderful Wizard? It didn't add up. He was wary of this man, too, because he knew of Elphaba's contempt for him. He had thought before that she was paranoid, but seeing that the Wizard was not what all thought he was, well, he felt lied to, and thought that maybe Elphie had been right about Oz. His, lips however, didn't seem to be hearing this train of thought. "Of course I'll serve Oz," he found himself saying. "What do you want me to do?" 


	8. Double Agent

Any moment grows louder when surrounded by silence, and  
it is the silence between the words in which the  
disappointment echoes. Glinda sat nervously between  
Elphie and Fiyero, the tense silence ringing in her ears.  
She even started biting her nails, something a girl of  
her stature didn't do. Well, she reminded her self,  
former stature.  
  
Sweet Oz, if looks could kill, Fiyero would be dead on  
the ground. Elphaba glared at him, trying to assess the  
situation. "You realize, you are a great threat to us  
here," she said. "You know more about us than you should,  
in fact you probably know about as much as Glinda does  
about what goes on here. Now, you're working for what  
we're working against. What kind of friend are you,  
Fiyero?"  
  
He hung his head. "It's not like there was much I could  
do, Elphie," he began to explain again, but she cut him  
off.  
  
"There is no Elphie!" She cried. "She is dead! No Elphie,  
no Glinda! You must keep our secrets!" Her green face  
flushed an odd shade, somewhere between green and red,  
like a lizard with sunburn.  
  
"Elphie, I could maybe work as a double agent for you,"  
he suggested gently. She considered it at great length  
before finally calming down. She nodded her head once,  
cautiously. 


	9. Love Hurts

CRASH! Elphaba wished with all her might that she could shatter like the plate. As the shards came showering down on her, she felt them slice her skin. How wonderful it must be to be glass. Crystal-clear, no imperfections. No heart to break, just unclouded, brilliant glass. But she wasn't glass. She was Elphaba. No, she wasn't even that anymore. Elphie was dead. This hideous green creature was nothing. She was Wicked. And she was far from perfect; she was mysterious, no one really knew her, her façade was a misty, cloudy one that no one seemed to be able to see past. She was just green fog. Worst of all, she did have a heart to break.  
  
"GRAHHHH!" Fiyero lunged at the scarecrow with all his strength. He was in training to be one of the Wizard's guards, a position he loathed, but at the same time wanted so much it almost hurt. But not as much as it hurt to know the one he loved didn't love him. She was so perfect, so beautiful, so above him. But it was for her (well, both girls, really) that he was going through this. Of course, he didn't needed training. He was a hunter and fearless protector of his tribe in the Vinkus. But it was good to have something to get his frustration out on.  
  
"FIYEEEERO!" Elphaba wailed. He could never love her. How could he possible be attracted to the frog next to the golden goddess that Glinda was? Though Glinda hadn't said anything about it, Elphie was sure there was something between the two. They made a beautiful couple; the contrasts of Fiyero's brown skin and decorative sapphires with Glinda's fair skin, blonde hair, and pink clothes. Green doesn't go well with anything.  
  
After training, Fiyero slumped in a dark corner of his apartment. He had never been in love before. He was married, although it was a prearranged and loveless marriage, and obviously, he had been attracted to other women, but he never felt like this before. There was a burning sensation in his chest that he felt whenever he thought about her. When he could actually see her face, he felt unbelievably happy, like a high that hits hard and fast, leaving you slightly disoriented. When he remembered he had no chance with her, he felt physical pain; like his heart and brain would simultaneously explode. He didn't know what to do with himself. Emotionally. Physically, of course he could relieve himself a little of his anguish. After this, he cleaned himself up, put his guard uniform on and headed out. He was working the night shift at Wizard's palace. He had to get his mind back to work. He had a mission for Elphaba tonight.  
  
Elphie dried her face, and put some oil on it to soothe the burns from the tears. Hopefully they wouldn't be noticeable to Glinda. Cleaning up the glass, she thought about the near future. Tonight Fiyero was working the night shift. She had him looking for things that might be important: plans, maps, anything that would let them know what he was up to next, and more importantly how they would be able to stop him. She had assassination in mind, but she hadn't told the other two that yet. Elphaba had also asked him to free the Animals and snow monkeys the Wizard had captive, but she was skeptical about whether he would actually do this. She didn't understand how she could love someone so much who thought so differently from her and who was clearly inept in areas she considered so important. 


	10. Green Bottle

"Elphie, look what Fiyero found!" Glinda called, high pitched and excited.  
  
Elphaba came eagerly out of her room, where she had been planning her new top-secret mission (once again, Glinda suspected it was assassination). When she saw what Glinda held in her hand, however she stopped short, and her faced went blank.  
  
"I know it's not much," Fiyero shrugged, "but I noticed, whenever something stressful happens, the wizard drinks some. I thought maybe it was some sort of power source; if he doesn't have it, it may be easier for us to have a coup d'êtat." He looked anxiously hopeful. He clearly also thought Elphaba was planning murder.  
  
But her face remained emotionless. Glinda chirped, "I thought it was interesting that it looks like the bottle you keep your oil stuff in!" This evidently was the wrong thing to say. Elphie's façade was now longer completely blank, but it was still unreadable. Swiftly, she grabbed the small, green crystal bottle of elixir, and turned on her heel.  
  
"I'll decide how this will help us. Thank you, Fiyero. I will speak with you tomorrow. Good-night." Elphaba announced briskly.  
  
Glinda and Fiyero exchanged surprised glances. After a moment of shock, Fiyero's face fell from surprised to crestfallen. Glinda found this slightly odd. "Don't worry, Fiyero. She's always moody." She offered. He looked up at her, and smiled. "I know, I just thought it would help more. You know, I really love working with you girls. I want you to know how much I appreciate you letting me in on the secrets." With a quick pat on the shoulder, he was gone. 


	11. Circles

"Why am I always caught in between these two?" Glinda thought as she nervously twirled a bit of hair around her dainty finger. She looked like a porcelain doll seeing a big foot coming down on her face... if porcelain dolls showed emotions. But no one noticed. Fiyero and Elphaba were paying no attention to Glinda, but instead staring each other down. Elphie's fiery eyes were bearing into Fiyero, trying to intimidate him, whereas his were calm and simply unafraid of hers.  
  
"Fiyero," Elphie began, clearly trying very hard to remain calm, "We are going in circles. I need to do something here! The Wizard is gaining more control; taking over your own homeland! Doesn't it bother you what he's doing o the Vinkus! Building a second Emerald City on your beautiful nature wonderland! He'll make all the Animals out there go quiet, too. Help me stop this!"  
  
"I'm doing what I can, Elphie!" was his response. "I can't let you murder anyone, though!"  
  
"Assassination is not murder. It's... It's..." Elphie trailed off. She knew exactly that what she wanted was murder, but she couldn't admit she was wrong. So she turned on Fiyero – again. "Well, if your not going to help me, get out!"  
  
Fiyero gaped at her for few minutes. Then resignedly got up from the kitchen table and quietly went to the door, pausing to say, "I'm sick of this pride bullshit, Elphie. Get over yourself." Then, with a small nod to Glinda, he was gone.  
  
Glinda stared at Elphaba incredulously. "What?" Elphie snapped. Glinda just shook her head and sat there for a few minutes. Elphie stood expectantly for a while then started to leave the room.  
  
"NO!" Glinda yelled. "You don't get to walk away like that!"  
  
Elphaba swung around and stared at Glinda, dumbfounded. "You treat Fiyero like dirt!" Glinda cried. "You treat me like I'm not even here. You don't understand that you're not the only one involved in all this!" Glinda surprised even herself in this outburst. She huffed, all out of breath.  
  
"I'm sorry," Elphaba whispered. Glinda just shook her head, unforgiving. "Fine! I'm not sorry!" She swung around again, and walked briskly from the room muttering, "Dumb blond..." 


	12. The Girl

Looks can be deceiving. The Wizard was no fool. He knew this perfectly well. He also knew that green girl was surely plotting something wicked. A destruction of his reign, maybe of his life, even. He had given her a chance to prove everyone wrong about her, and she had declined, vowing to put an end to his "madness", as she called it.  
  
So imagine his surprise when a cute, but confused, little girl showed up at his doorstep. Escorted to the Wizard's throne by his most faithful guard, Fiyero, the little girl came asking for a way back home. The wizard seized the opportunity to send the girl to kill "the witch." She was to stay with him for the evening, to eat a good meal, get a good night's rest. Then, in the morning, she was to set out for the destruction of all Wickedness in Oz.  
  
~ "ELPHABA!" Fiyero ran screaming into the apartment.  
  
"What? What is it?" She asked nervously.  
  
"The Wizard beat you to your plan. He sent out an assassin for you. If she finds us here, she'll surely kill all three of us," He explained breathlessly.  
  
"Well, we'll be able to see her coming. She must be huge and well- armed if the Wizard sent her out for my blood, right?"  
  
But Fiyero just shook his head. "She's a 10-year-old child; beautiful and innocent-looking."  
  
Suddenly, Glinda appeared. They hadn't noticed her coming in. "It seems to me," she said softly, "that we only have one option." The other two looked at her in anticipation. "Blow up the Emerald Palace." 


	13. Mission Gone Wrong

Sorry these have taken me so long. Enjoy!  
  
~ The cold air felt good. Fiyero was hot and nervous, and the open window helped. He squinted into the darkness, searching for Elphaba and her broom. He was up in the highest tower of the Emerald Palace. The Wizard and the little girl were asleep. He and Elphie were going to set bombs around the Palace. He never thought it would come to this, much less that it would be Glinda's idea. Sweet Glinda, what have we gotten ourselves into, working alongside this terrorist? But Fiyero knew that what they were fighting for was just, and without Elphie they wouldn't have the courage to fight. Dear Elphie, where did your everlasting courage come from?  
  
"Wake up, Fiyero! What kind of man falls asleep on the job, Yero, my Hero?" Elphaba whispered jokingly. He hadn't noticed her broom approach.  
  
As he backed from the window allowing her in, he stammered, "I wasn't asleep... my mind was just wandering." Elphie just smiled and winked. She reached into her cloak and pulled up the explosives.  
  
As they left the room, Elphie heard the click click of heels on the hard floor. She looked up to see a little girl in a blue dress, and ruby shoes. Nessa's ruby shoes. "MY SISTER'S SHOES!" Elphaba exclaimed angrily. She started to run forward, but Fiyero's arm shot out in front of her.  
  
"I didn't want to tell you before, because it would upset you," He explained slowly and quietly, "but, the details of her arrival, well... She somehow flew here in her house, and it landed on Nessarose. I'm sorry." It broke his heart to see her so upset.  
  
"Her flying house killed my sister?" Elphaba repeated, dumbfounded. "And they think I'm a witch?" She shook her head disbelievingly.  
  
At this point, unfortunately, the little girl had turn the corner of the corridor and could see Fiyero's bright green uniform. "Hello, sir," she said brightly. "I couldn't sleep, so I went exploring." Her green eyes sparkled. "I hope that's alright. I didn't touch anything, honest!" She looked confused. Poor girl, so innocent, she really had no idea about Oz. "Who were you talking to?"  
  
Fiyero glanced at Elphaba, who shook her head. "No one," Fiyero said, but it was too late. The little girl had seen Elphaba's dark shape. She had glimpsed the green skin.  
  
"You're the..." She gasped, then screamed. Like a flash Elphaba had disappeared, and all the other palace guards, along with the Wizard himself, and appeared.  
  
"What is it, Dorothy?" the Wizard asked. He was staring hard at Fiyero, who had frozen in his place. He had no clue where Elphie had gone. He was unsure of what to do. He still had one of the bombs in his hand. "Was this man being wicked?" the wizard asked the little girl.  
  
She nodded slowly. "He was talking to a witch. And there's a bomb in his hand."  
  
"Yes, I see that," the Wizard said deliberately. "Guards, the know what to do. Scare 'em."  
  
The little girl seemed puzzled by this, but Fiyero knew what this meant. Of late, the Wizard's army had begun to hang political objectors on posts like scarecrows until they died. Elphaba also knew this. She was watching from the window. She was debating whether to save him or not. Fearing being killed herself, she flew back to the apartments to tell Glinda what happened. Maybe together they could come up with a way to save him before it was too late without sacrificing themselves. Afterall, if all three of them were caught, the rest of Oz would be doomed. Damned to be slowly suffocated by the propaganda-filled reign of the "Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz."  
  
~ Once back at the apartments, Glinda did not like what she heard. To Elphaba's surprise, however, it wasn't the heartbreak of a lost lover Glinda expressed, but the anger over needlessly losing a good friend.  
  
"Elphie, don't you know what you have done? You gone and cut him dead," Glinda exploded.  
  
"I had to do it, don't you see? Or else they'd go for me," was Elphie's sad reply. She was ready for the tears to stream down her face, burning painful streaks on her skin. There wasn't time for tears, though. Later she could cry. Now she had to get Glinda to help Fiyero.  
  
"Why didn't you save him? How could you stand by and let him die?" Glinda couldn't believe Elphaba had been so vapid.  
  
"Glinda, can we keep in mind what happens when I do good deeds? IT ALWAYS ENDS BAD!" Elphaba shouted out anguish. "Look at what happened to Dr. Dillamond. And remember, our whole escapade out here started as a good deed, and went horribly wrong! Now, Fiyero will die if you don't save him."  
  
"Me? Why me?"  
  
Elphaba stared. "Why you?" She repeated. "Because they're not all out trying to kill you! Besides," she continued, now softly grieving, "I think he'd rather the beautiful Miss Glinda save him, than the treacherous toad that got him into this mess in the first place."  
  
"Treacherous – what?" Glinda was angrily baffled. "Elphie, you idiot... Fiyero loved YOU!" 


	14. Death

Elphie paced around the apartment, beside herself. Glinda had gone to see if she could find Fiyero and save him. She was alone. She was always so alone.  
  
Footsteps! More than one pair! Glinda must be back with Fiyero. "Ah, Fiyero," Elphie thought with deliberation. "Yero, my Hero, my love." The door opened. But it was not Glinda and Fiyero.  
  
There stood the little girl, a large Lion, a woodchopper made of tin, and a scarecrow. Elphaba looked around wildly, not knowing what to do. Then she caught sight of Nessa's magic shoes.  
  
Suddenly livid, Elphaba lunged at the girl, shouting, "THOSE SHOULD BE MINE!" But when she touched them, she found they would not come off the little girl. "That damn spell... oh, Nessa, even in death you spite me!" wailed Elphie. While sniveling at the girl's feet, Elphie abruptly felt the toe of the shoe kick hard at her chin. She screamed and fell backward. The Lion and the Tinman stepped forward slowly and menacingly.  
  
Elphaba cringed, waiting for the end she so deserved, when the door flew open again. Glinda's frame filled the doorway, her face a mask of anger and alarm.  
  
"Get away from her!" Glinda yelled, shoving forward to Elphie.  
  
"Glinda, oh Glinda," Elphaba sobbed, "She has Nessa's shoes. My poor sister mocks me even in death! Our killer is the same, hidden behind innocence and a pair of stolen shoes!"  
  
"Hush, Elphie," Glinda cooed soothingly, "I'm here; I'm going to take care of this. Just you hush." She turned on the little girl. Now her face was not sweet and tender, now it was filled with vengeance. "You little scoundrel. Look what you have done to her!" She slapped the little girl across the face and demanded Elphie's shoes are given back. "You heartless little wretch, those are her sister's shoes. The sister you MURDERED!"  
  
"NO, no!" The little girl wailed. "I didn't kill anyone! The witch just happened to be under my house when it landed; it wasn't my fault!"  
  
"Witch?" Elphie moaned. "No, not Nessarose... she's perfect..." Glinda couldn't stand to see Elphaba like this. Screaming her pledge to kill, she ran at the little girl, wand raised.  
  
In a heartbeat, the girl grabbed the woodchoppers axe and held it right in front of her, as pretty pink Glinda ran right into it. Now she was pretty red Glinda. There was blood everywhere. The little girl seemed as shocked as Glinda, who fell back, into Elphaba's arms.  
  
"Well, Elphie, I guess you were right," Glinda uttered between pained gasps. "No good deed goes unpunished. I tried and failed, and I'm paying the ultimate sacrifice. But you know what, Elphie?" Through the stinging tears, Elphaba shook her head. "It was worth it, to know I did what I could to save my best friend," came Glinda's final words, filled with love and devotion. Elphaba lay a slight kiss on her comrade's forehead, and slowly stood up.  
  
"You bitch! I'll burn you alive!" Grabbing the candle from behind her, she ran at the girl, who dodged out of the way. Elphie had forgotten that the scarecrow was even there, until he was ablaze. Immediately, he pushed her out of the way, headed for the kitchen, trailing flames. Picking up the bucket that has been collecting the sink drippings, carried it back across the room. As he stood over the astonished Elphaba, he dumped the water over her, allowing himself to continue burning.  
  
"Go on, Dorothy, go back to the Wizard, go home," the scarecrow said to the little girl. Elphaba knew she had heard that voice before. She couldn't think where, though. The water was burning her. She had never been exposed to so much water before. The pain was blinding. She could almost swear she was watching Fiyero burn in front of her eyes.  
  
"FIYEEEERRRROOOO!!!" Elphaba wailed, as her green fleshed melted and dropped off. She had never felt so much pain. She wondered if it hurt this much to get crushed by a house. Did it hurt this much to have a little robot slit your throat? How about to die of senility in your bed? Did drug overdose and broken heart hurt this much? As clouded as her mind was by the torment of the water, she prayed that her loved ones didn't suffer this much in their death agonies.  
  
"There is no more Fiyero, Witch," the scarecrow said bitterly. His voiced was also very anguished. "I loved you, and you let them take me. Glinda was the only one who came to try and help me. This is what I have become because of you!" There wasn't much left to the burning scarecrow, by now. Nor was there much left to Elphaba. They both were burning to death, in their own ways. Dying heartbroken, next to the two other people they loved.  
  
~ Looking out from a hot air balloon, hundreds of feet above Oz, the Wizard could see a fire engulfing the tenements of the Emerald City. Turning around to his little companion and her terrier, he said, "Wonderful." 


End file.
